


Lightning Strikes Maybe Once, Maybe Twice

by owlpockets



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-02
Updated: 2013-06-21
Packaged: 2017-12-13 17:25:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/826880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlpockets/pseuds/owlpockets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five drabbles based on Fleetwood Mac's Gypsy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lightning Strikes

**Author's Note:**

> For tzomei - thanks for donating! <3
> 
> The drabbles are not linked. Listen to [Gypsy by Fleetwood Mac](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKTTlVGIeFk).

Tony was lucky; lightning rarely strikes twice. The first was Pepper, but when she decided she couldn’t take the stress anymore and left him (not that he could blame her, he could never blame her for anything, and they’re still friends), Steve was the second. And it was almost literal, because Thor, with his complete inability to understand tact, outed both of them at once in the kitchen when they had been tiptoeing around the issue for weeks. Tony was perhaps less than thrilled, but Steve looked like he was about to blow a gasket. It was the last time either of them confided in their Asgardian friend.


	2. A Memory

"He wasn't really like that, you know, nice, fun. Not later, anyway." Tony added the last bit as an afterthought that he didn't fully believe.

Steve sighed, taking the seat next to Tony. At first he looked like he wanted to argue, but deflated quickly. "I think we can agree that we knew Howard as two different men."

"Memory tends to have that effect. I think I can live with it," Tony said with a half-smile. He wrapped his fingers around Steve's and gave a gentle squeeze. "Wait, you didn't have a crush on him, did you? Because I might have a problem with that."

Steve laughed uncertainly. "Half the time I'm not sure if you're being serious or not. But no, we were just friends."


	3. Down To You

“This is down to you, Steve. I know Peggy was important to you, and I’m sorry you got left behind, but it’s a new century and you either live in the moment or I’m not…I can’t wait around.”

Tony was clearly trying to be patient, but there was a slight edge in his voice. Steve couldn’t really blame him; sometimes his sentimentality got in the way, muddled up his head and turned into crippling nostalgia.

“I know,” Steve answered slowly. “I’m having a hard time getting things to match up in my head. I’m not sure they ever will and I kind of hate that.”

Tony opened his mouth to say something, brows furrowed in frustration, but Steve cut him off. “Wait, let me finish. I’m a fossil, I get it, but I want to make this work, I really do. Give me a little more time to figure it out.”

Slightly skeptical, but mollified, Tony allowed himself to be hugged. Steve hoped he could sort out his issues, or at least delay the inevitable a little longer by trying.


	4. Bright Eyes

When he crash-landed somewhere in the Rockies, bruised and cold, all Tony could think of was Steve's bright blue eyes. He tried to think of Pepper instead, he wished he could only think of Pepper, but it didn't work for long. The guilt was terrible, and he wanted to apologize for so many things, even the things she didn't know about, but thinking of Steve was easier. Uncomplicated by years of bad decisions. However, Tony had more immediate problems than what to do about Pepper and his likely one-sided crush on Captain America, such as not freezing to death until he could figure out what was wrong with the suit. One step at a time.


	5. Night Light

Steve wakes hot and disoriented, having kicked all the blankets off the edge of the bed sometime in the night. He's pretty sure he was having a nightmare, but the images fade too quickly to piece together. For about thirty seconds he can't figure out where he is, but the bland decor and slightly sterile smell remind Steve he's in a SHIELD bunk. Right, he had been too bushed to go home the previous night.

Steve pushes up out of bed and heads down the hall to find some water. The lounge is dark and emtpy, except for a localized blue glow that doesn't immediately register as a human being. 

"That you, Cap?" Tony asks when Steve doesn't immediately acknowledge him.

"Yeah, I...uhh..." Steve blinks a few times, adjusting to the unusual lighting from Tony's arc reactor. "I was just looking for a glass of water."

"Can't sleep?" Tony sets his computer down and moves around the couch.

"No, uh, bad dream, I think." There's a sound of running water and soon a cup is being pressed into his hand.

"Mm. You want to see what I'm working on?" Tony goes back to his seat, expectant expression illuminated in blue.

Steve nods and settles down next to Tony, glad to have someone talk at him for a while.


End file.
